I owe a debt to a friend of mine, Chia-li Chen, for coining the phrase “market makers” (you can listen to her this month on my Shared Dreams podcast at (www.SharedDreamsPodcast.com). It’s a brilliant phrase, and a brilliant idea.

“Market makers” are the partners who help you reach a wider audience than you would have otherwise been able to meet. They are the event promoters who invite you to speak at a national conference, the large corporation that buy a quantity of your book as an incentive prize, or maybe the corporate website that hosts you on a teleseminar for all of their clients.

Who are your market makers?

Sometimes, people stumble into market makers, but most of the time, it’s intentional. It comes from having a clear idea of who your ideal client is, and where you can find them in clusters. Market makers also help you accelerate your growth by connecting with you to lots of your ideal prospects, instead of you having to find those prospects one at a time.

How do you know a market maker when you see it? Think about the companies that serve your ideal clients, who provide complementary—not competing—services, and that are organized enough so that affiliation with them creates scalable growth for you. What companies would be a great fit for you as a speaker or for your books? What organizations could hire you over and over again to consult or speak, or provide large orders of product?

Then it’s up to you to network your way in front of decision makers with a great win-win proposal. When there’s a good match, both sides will clearly see the benefit.

THE AUTHOR

This Big Dreams and Hard Work! blog is dedicated to business owners, entrepreneurs, visionaries and authors who are committed to doing the hard work necessary to see their big dreams come true.

Gail Z. Martin is a bestselling author, international speaker and entrepreneur. She is the “Get Results Resource” for marketing strategies that work. Gail is the author of The Thrifty Author’s Guide to Launching Your Book and 30 Days to Social Media Success. You can find her online at GailMartinMarketing.com.